Write and format Morse code

Use a format the decoder can read

For this tool, write dots as periods (.) and dashes as ASCII hyphens (-). Keep the marks of one character together. Put a space between complete characters, then / between words. In .... .. / - .... . .-. ., the first two groups spell HI and the remaining groups spell THERE.

Extra spaces, tabs and line breaks are treated as character separators in International mode. Three spaces do not create a word break here. A handwritten reference may use wider visual gaps, but when transcribing it into the decoder, express the word boundary with / explicitly.

A long typographic dash, bullet or underscore may look similar to a signal mark, but this decoder does not normalize them into dots and dashes. Transcribe the visual marks deliberately. An underscore in plain text is a supported punctuation character with its own code; that is a different operation from pasting a dash-like mark in Morse mode.

Why letter boundaries change the answer

The pattern .- is A. The groups . and - separated by a space are E and T. Both inputs are valid Morse, but they produce different messages. A decoder cannot recover an intended boundary simply because the joined pattern looks plausible.

When copying from a photo, identify the grouping before typing. Read one complete letter at a time, preserve its marks, and separate it from the next letter. If an image does not show boundaries clearly, mark the uncertainty instead of presenting a guessed result as a verified message.

A literal slash from your original text becomes -..-. in encoded output. The displayed / between code groups is only a word separator. This difference lets the tool distinguish a written fraction such as 12/5 from two separate number groups such as 12 5.

Check a complete sentence

Start with a short sentence whose spelling you can verify, such as MORSE CODE IS EASY. Encode it and count the four words. Copy the result into Morse to Text and check the decoded wording. Changing direction clears a draft; Swap contents moves the existing result into the input for a round-trip check.

For a design, retain letter and word boundaries even if you change the appearance of the marks. For audio, the silent gaps supply those boundaries. Avoid decorative spacing that makes the start or end of a character ambiguous.

American Morse needs a different written convention because certain characters contain internal spaces. This project uses three spaces between American character groups and single spaces within a character where required. Use the American comparison guide and matching mode; do not apply its separator rules to International decoding.

Input that preserves the boundary

Worked examples

These patterns use International Morse. Spaces separate letters; / separates words. A slash in the original text is encoded as -..-.

HI THERE

.... .. / - .... . .-. .

3.06 seconds at 20 WPMPlay audioStop audio

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ET

. -

0.42 seconds at 20 WPMPlay audioStop audio

Try this message

A

.-

0.30 seconds at 20 WPMPlay audioStop audio

Try this message

MORSE CODE IS EASY

-- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . / .. ... / . .- ... -.--

8.82 seconds at 20 WPMPlay audioStop audio

Try this message